Hillary Clinton's private emails are getting subpoenaed

A House of Representatives committee dedicated to
investigating the 2012 terrorist attack on the US diplomatic
compound in Benghazi, Libya issued subpoenas on Wednesday in an
effort to examine Clinton's use of a private email address when
she was secretary of state.

In a statement on the subpoenas, Jamal Ware, a spokesman
for the House Select Committee on Benghazi, said
letters were also sent to companies involved with Clinton's email
account.

"The Select Committee on Benghazi today issued subpoenas
for all communications of former Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton related to Libya and to the State Department for other
individuals who have information pertinent to the investigation,"
Ware said. "The Committee also has issued preservation letters to
internet firms informing them of their legal obligation to
protect all relevant documents."

The Washington
Post was first to report on the committee's plans to
issue the subpoenas.

Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-South Carolina), the chairman of the Benghazi
committee, has previously sought to obtain Clinton's emails
related to the attacks. Clinton's handling of the Benghazi
attacks have long been criticized by Republicans.

Democrats have claimed Clinton
agreed to testify before the committee last year, but Gowdy
said he would wait to obtain the emails before calling her. The
Post reported "one person familiar with deliberations" said the
committee discovered Clinton was using the private address last
summer. Gowdy's office did not respond to multiple requests
from Business Insider on Wednesday asking about potential
subpoenas.

After the Times story was published,
Gowdy told reporters that Clinton "used personal email in
lieu of government email" and that she "had more than one private
email account." Because of this, Gowdy said the State Department
"cannot certify that have produced all of former Secretary
Clinton’s emails."

"They do not have all of former Secretary Clinton’s emails nor do
they control access to them," Gowdy said.

However, afterwards, Ware issued a statement repeating Gowdy's
claim that Clinton had more than one private address.

"The Select Committee on Benghazi is in possession of records
with two separate and distinct email addresses used by former
Secretary Clinton and dated during the time she was Secretary of
State," Ware said.

Ware added the committee could not definitively say why it
uncovered multiple addresses without obtaining information from
Clinton's email server.

"Without access to the relevant electronic information and
stored data on the server—which was reportedly registered to
her home—there is no way the Committee, or anyone else, can
fully explain why the Committee uncovered two email addresses,"
Ware said.

Ware's statement on the pair of email addresses outlined the
committee's rationale for issuing the subpoenas.

"As Chairman Gowdy has noted, this is why former Secretary
Clinton’s exclusive use of personal emails to conduct official
U.S. government business is so problematic and raises
significant issues for transparency," Ware said. "The American
people have a right to a full accounting of all the former
Secretary’s emails, and the Committee is committed to working
to uncover all the facts."

This post was updated at
6:23 p.m. with Ware's statement announcing the subpoena
issuance.